I think I finally “get” Twitter. After continually being accused of “arguing” over Twitter I took a step back and scrolled as far as my history would allow me and what I discovered is that everyone I follow tweets random, opinionless “stuff.” Just little mini-headlines or newsbytes, at best a 140-character equivalent of a “Now Playing” status on a media player or IM client. The only “social” interaction is perhaps asking for brief advice and getting a few replies, or someone making a completely opinionless tweet acknowledging someone else’s completely opinionless tweet. Obviously I had never noticed that before; that type of “interaction” is foreign to me.
After so many years on BBS’ back in the day, then GEnie, then years on IRC having discussions and sharing opinions, now we all have blogs which by their very definition are there for us to write our opinions and for commenters to also share their opinions on what we just wrote our opinion on, I find it tragically sad that apparently Twitter is most assuredly not for having any opinion on. I didn’t get the memo on that, but everyone can rest assured that “get it” now.
From now on, I’ll just let Raptr, GamerDNA or whatever handle the bulk of my tweets since they are all automated by a script and therefore do not have a person with feelings behind them who may be tempted to share his opinion in a, you know, “social” medium. If I dare make a manual tweet, I shall endeavor to remove any trace of emotion or opinion behind it so that it remains “random stuff” and is therefore acceptable to the delicate Twittersphere.
In other news, as we get closer and closer to my deadline for keeping this server up (4 days to decide), behavior like this from the bloggers I respect the most just brings me closer and closer to shutting this whole thing down. This is all supposed to be enjoyable, not something that brings me stress or leaves me with hurt feelings.
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I could follow the discussion in question, as I follow both of you. It suggest you both should not be too upset about this.
Personally, I have offended people unknowingly, I spammed people, I confused people and I got misunderstood or taken out of context, which happens a lot on Twitter.
In this case P.was obviously not in the mood to discuss things. I was quite surprised about that, as you were really not aggressive in any way. And this is really funny! I remember you asking me quite a lot why I think this sucks, this rocks and what is wrong with what was it again… today’s achievement systems, right! This was really hard, answer such an open question in 140 chars or multiples of that, it is not easy! But now you got accused to argue for asking a rather simple question. Doh.
I just want to point out, Hudson has already left the building AND says vile things like he plays only one game at the moment, and that is WoW, which makes me totally sick – I would have wasted his blog with comments, haha!
You play at least GW and LOTRO, and that are two good reasons to blog and tweet. IMO of course.
@Longasc: I was serious about checking my Twitter history and seeing how the people I follow actually tweet. It’s just “random stuff” or “newsbytes” like I said. If anyone dares to actually voice some form of opinion over Twitter, they’re accused of arguing. It’s not just me, but I’m sick of it.
Just like the thing with Openedge last week. I simply made a wisecrack to the effect that after living in Colorado, I tend to call “little” mountains “hills” instead. I wasn’t trying to state facts or anything but apparently if you write something on Twitter it had better be factual information and nothing else. After two attempts to get what I was saying across, I started getting pissed so I just dropped it. But I did pop onto IRC where I used to hang out and helpdesk, etc. and had some of my old friends read that conversation and they knew exactly what I was saying immediately. They said the whole thing might have been avoided if I’d put a smiley at the end of my very first tweet. In general, though, the IRC crowd (or at least that one) has a fairly low opinion of MMORPG gamers and bloggers because though they use text chat constantly, not to mention writing on our blogs, they tend to be “contextually challenged” or have difficulty with comprehension of what people are saying via chat. I have to say, in the 6+ years I’ve been playing various MMOG’s and chatting in that setting, it’s hard to disagree.
I really hate Twitter, I just don’t understand the fascination with it. Twitter seems more like a less interactive instant messaging service, something I care little for. I would hate to see the blog shut down, but if you have little to nothing you want to say, then it becomes a matter of cost and if you are willing to pay money for something you may or may not use.
Whatever you do with this place, good luck to you. Life’s too short to get too riled up about low priority stuff.
Here’s hoping you have some fun where ever you wind up.
I missed a spot on my chin while shaving this morning. It’s bugging me.
(Twitter is pointless)
I think the difference in response between IRC and Twitter might have been that you’re IRC friends know you a bit better and understand your sense of humor. Regardless, if its causing you headaches then I would avoid it. Personally, I’m enjoying Twitter, I’ve made some social connections (to people like Longasc and you) that I likely wouldn’t have made without it, but I just treat Twitter like a public version of AIM, Messenger, or Gtalk.
@Blue Kae: Not really, I don’t hang on IRC much anymore so they only “know” me from several years ago. I just gave them the link to the “conversation” and they could read it just fine, even the people I didn’t know at all. I try to treat Twitter like a public IM but that doesn’t seem to be going well, obviously.
If anyone thinks I’m being argumentative, aggressive, hostile or anything else… they’re wrong. When I am, there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind of it.
The problem with any text only medium, is that it’s widely open to interpretation, and often gets misinterpreted. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of these in the past. The sheer fact that it’s hard to convey emotion and/or body language when communicating with a text only medium opens up all sorts of pit falls.
I’ve known Scott for quite a few years, and I know his argumentative style as well as his basic chit chat style as well as his “I’m a wee bit pissed off right now”-style. I won’t claim that I’ve read all his tweets, but I’ve seen none of the above in either of his tweets. Even when I put aside everything I know about Scott, and read that as is, I can hardly find anything hostile or argumentative about them.
Some people just take their online presence a bit too seriously, I would know, being one of them from time to time. And I also know that some people are just born to stir up an argument from time to time, in the lack of better things to do.
My advise to you mate is simply ignore it, you can’t please everyone, and nor should you aim to do. Your presence both on Twitter and here on this blog is a reflection of who you are, your thoughts and views, and the fact that people actually read what you write should be proof enough that it’s time well spent. Your blog posts might not be right up my alley, as your gaming sphere is a totally different to that of mine, but I still find them very interesting and entertaining to read.
Keep at it mate!
Ever watch a bunch of birds in a cage chirping along noisily, but really they’re all just sitting there, in a cage? Given the name ‘twitter’ and the bird logos, I think the guys who run it are somewhat aware of this. But are users aware?
Dude, don’t take any of it seriously. I know I don’t. If I make a comment on Twitter its for my own gratification not the gratification of others. People follow me as I follow them because I’m interested in what they have to say controversial or argumentative, either way Twitter is just another form of entertainment for the masses.
I don’t follow it like some holy grail of useful knowledge. Sure, if I ask an opinion I want a straight forward one and its a great way to keep up with people that you’ve met in the gaming community. But inflection and tone can’t be deciphered from text or at least I never have been able to figure it out. If someone posts something that you feel you have to comment on then comment, good or bad that person let you in to view their thoughts. If they didn’t want your opinion they would have blocked you the moment you started following them.
Its TV for the tech age. Just a bunch of people spinning plates on their fingers saying “look at me”.
First of all, if I hurt your feelings then I apologize.
Second, you and I have a history of friction in places other than Twitter.
But as to Twitter as a medium, I do not think it is a place for discussion; it’s too transient for that. I mean yes, you can go back and read old tweets but it is a cumbersome process at best (depending on how many people you follow; I follow 600+)
To me, Twitter is a broadcast medium. Sure, discussion happens but it tends to be very ‘light’ discussion where if someone suddenly drops out, there’s little to no consequence. Because often someone will drop out. I use it to find out what’s going on in the tech world. Gamer folks on there are just for fun and I do enjoy talking to them, but primarily Twitter is a kind of social research tool for me. Sharing links, sharing facts, sharing pics…
In this particular situation, I broadcast the news about B&N giving $100 gift cards as an apology for missing Christmas ship dates as an FYI to any of the people following me who may be impacted by the situation. But I stupidly forgot to link to the story, so I threw in a follow up tweet with the link and added as an afterthought that I wished I’d pre-ordered one. I had no intention of getting into a discussion of it; I was just broadcasting the info.
You asked why I wished I’d pre-ordered and I told you a $159 Nook might be worth having now that it’s been rooted and people are having fun hacking on it.
You then corrected me by pointing out what I had already stated: that B&N was giving $100 gift cards, not cash. As I’d already said that it was a gift card, I was (and still am) confused as to why you said this. I didn’t understand why you were challenging this off-hand comment I made; it felt to me like you were trying to set the facts straight in an attempt to make sure anyone reading the conversation knew the details.
But since someone would’ve had to pre-order the Nook back in November/early December for any of this to apply, it all seemed like a moot thing to get into a discussion over, so to me it felt like you were starting an argument just for the sake of arguing. And arguing over Twitter is *extremely* fatiguing, in my experience.
But trying to convey all this in 140 characters (while at the office, btw) is nearly impossible (which is why I don’t see Twitter as a tool for holding any but the lightest of conversations).
Again, I apologize if I hurt your feelings. You & I have a history of mis-understanding each other. This is just another example. I’m not sure the medium is to blame as much as incompatible personalities are.
Rather than giving up on Twitter altogether, why not just unfollow people (like me) who cause you stress? Having a positive Twitter experience is all about following the right people and only the right people for your particular circumstances.
And that choice isn’t really personal. There’s a blogger I read all the time, but on Twitter they’re kind of snarky and sarcastic, which bugs me, so I unfollowed them. I still read them, still like them. Just don’t enjoy their twitter presence, so I don’t follow them.
@pasmith: Yes, you did hurt my feelings accusing me of arguing. Apology accepted. Bygones, and all that jazz…
On top of that, it was my first day home from a trip and I’m extremely moody and short-tempered while I emotionally recuperate, so I pretty much went ballistic at being accused of arguing again. Rather than actually arguing over Twitter I stormed off, pouted, then wrote this post. My followers (gosh that sounds rather self-important) are not responsible for knowing my work schedule and knowing which days my fuse is in the negative.
Just to clarify (not being argumentative) what I was getting at, I first responded only to your “Now I wish I’d pre-ordered a Nook” which is why I asked why, since they’re being widely panned as a sub-par device but with grand potential for the next version. It was the “For the $100 off” tweet that was the misunderstanding. I don’t follow Nook news, nor did I notice your previous mention that it was indeed a gift card so I take responsibility for not catching that. When you said $100 off, I immediately perked up and Googled the thing, debating whether it would be worth getting a first-gen Nook at $159 but then saw it was full-price but with a $100 gift card, which is why I replied. As you said, to you that’s just as good. To me, it’s the same mathematically but I don’t prioritize my money that way. I carefully adjust my tax deductions so that I either come out exactly even at the end of the year or I end up owing the IRS less than $100 because I would rather have my own money all year than give them too much and have them refund it. Plenty of others enjoy getting those big refund checks. I maximize my 401(k), etc. contributions out of my paycheck rather than sending checks each month because if I never had it in my possession to begin with, I won’t miss it. Other people would rather handle that manually each month.
It’s just two sides of the same coin, I just don’t see why some people get all bent out of shape if someone else doesn’t think in identical terms.
See, and as is typical (it seems) of you and I, misunderstandings/mis communications pile on top of one another. I assumed (and you know what happens when I do that) that you’d read the tweet where I mentioned the gift card.
I honestly don’t know if I’d actually order a Nook even with the gift card. Since my understanding was that it only applies to the orders that were initially promised to ship by Christmas, it was more an idle thought that I’d never have to back up. If it really came down to pulling out $360 in cash, I might have a change of heart, gift card or not. I certainly spend $100/quarter or so on books, but as you point out, a buck in the wallet is worth 2 in a gift card.
I do wish the Nook was a better product though. I like that its more ‘open’ than the Kindle.
Anyway…
If you and I ever sat down for a beer together we’d probably get along fine. I think it’s our writing/reading styles that tend to clash. I honestly had you figured for one of these stony dudes who never lets anything get to him, so to be frank I never even think about your feelings. Or never did. Now that I know you’re human like the rest of us, I’ll try to do better in that respect.
Hiya
In a way, Twitter reflects the shallowness and disinterest of current generations.
In “our days”, IRC was also a broadcast medium, “subscribers” being on a common channel. But we had a lot more depth in whatever topics we covered in short messages exchanged. How many thousands of hours have we spent in intense, thought-provoking discussions on a gazillion subjects?
Nowadays, try talking with a teenager:
“So, what are you doing?”
“Just chillin’.”
“What were you working on?”
“Stuff.”
“How about that ?”
“Meh.”
The point is that, if the current generations were able to put together a sentence more complex than the 160 characters of a text, the technology to satisfy this requirement would have been dominant. But the fact that Twitter is so hugely successful is only an indicator that our young ones considers 160 characters more than enough to share with the world any “intelligent” thought.
May God help us all.
@Titel: OMG you’re still around! Long time, mate, good to hear from ya!